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What’s the difference between a VLA & Paid Search?

What’s the difference between a VLA & Paid Search?

What’s the difference between a vehicle listing ad (or ‘VLA’) and paid search? It used to be that you bid on a keyword (something like ‘Ford dealer’, ‘Toyota dealer’, ‘dealerships near me’, ‘used cars for sale’). In contrast, VLA’s bear more similarities to dynamic used paid search in that (rather than being keyword based) they’re based on the inventory you […]

Buzz, Bull and Automobiles | Steer clear of the vendor bullsh*t

Buzz, Bull and Automobiles | Steer clear of the vendor bullsh*t

As featured on the May 2023 cover of AutoSuccess Magazine Sales are down. Leads are down. Foot traffic is down. We have the wrong cars, and rates aren’t helping, but boy, does it feel like something just isn’t working right. Is it the website? Are the chat and digital retailing tools set up right? Do we need to switch third-party […]

What are Performance Max ads?

What are Performance Max ads?

Performance Max (or ‘P-Max’) ads are an ad type within paid search that has become very popular in 2022 and 2023. Think of them as a bucket that Google holds out and says, “Pour some money in and we’ll get you performance!” and then try to maximize that performance per dollar in terms of traffic. Hopefully, that traffic generated is […]

High Performance Video Series – May Recap

High Performance Video Series – May Recap

A few months ago, VP of Performance and Sales here at Wikimotive, Zach Billings, went in-depth on a number of automotive SEO topics in his High Performance video series. Now, he’s back again to talk about even more. Kicking off the second series, Zach discussed something everyone’s wondering about: how dealerships in other parts of the country outrank you on […]

How should ChatGPT affect my SEO strategy?

How should ChatGPT affect my SEO strategy?

Disclaimer: Due to the rapid evolution of ChatGPT this blog (an intended transcript of the video) has been enriched with additional information to ensure its timely accuracy as of the 5/23/23 airdate. So, you’ve spent the last few months hearing a lot about Chat GPT, and you might be asking yourself, can I use this to scale my SEO content? […]

What is GA4 and how will it affect my dealership?

What is GA4 and how will it affect my dealership?

GA4, What’s all the fuss about? Well, the fuss exists for good reason, and it’s probably going to continue through 2023 and into 2024. For those not aware, Google Analytics 4 (or “GA4”) is the new version of Google Analytics. It’s existed since 2020 in some form or another, has matured a lot through late 2022 into 2023, and will […]

3 SEO Tasks AI Can’t Address & Why

3 SEO Tasks AI Can’t Address & Why

There is no denying the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) can be useful in crafting and executing elements of a powerful SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. We have proven that fact time and time again within our AI blog series. However, there are also plenty of SEO tasks that AI can’t address. From developing a content strategy to alt tags […]

Why did my site get more out-of-state traffic in 2022?

Why did my site get more out-of-state traffic in 2022?

Did you start getting a lot of out-of-state traffic in 2022? If so, were you wondering why? Well, you could have attracted out-of-market traffic via blog articles that are informational (as opposed to transactional). As we’ve discussed in recent weeks, this means blog articles that attract people who want to learn more about things like towing capacity, or trim levels, […]

What is User Experience (UX) and Why Does It Matter?

What is User Experience (UX) and Why Does It Matter?

Much of the work of technical SEO is performed behind the scenes: auditing sitemaps, tracking conversions, and doing other things for the benefit of search engines and the humans who use them. But as much as we want sites that will rank well on the SERP (search engine results page), we cannot lose sight of who these sites are designed […]

Is more web traffic always better?

Is more web traffic always better?

If selling cars is a numbers game, then more traffic is always better, right? Well, yes and no. Let’s Talk Traffic To increase sales you need more showroom visits, which means you need more opportunities to convert to leads, which establishes the need for more traffic. Right? But…more traffic doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to have more opportunity. A […]

ThinkBetter Video Series – April Recap

ThinkBetter Video Series – April Recap

Last month, I told you that you weren’t going to want to miss out on the April episodes of ThinkBetter with Angus Fox; I wasn’t kidding. This past month, Angus provided even more questions to ask your vendors to ensure you are getting the best possible product. He also went in-depth, showing you how you can tell what your third-party […]

Why is my dealership getting outranked in Search?

Why is my dealership getting outranked in Search?

So, you’re here [let’s call it “Location A”] and you’re being outranked by another dealership way over here [“Location B”]? There are a number of factors that cause a dealership across the country to rank higher than you do, beginning with the keyword. Getting Outranked | Transactional Searches vs. Informational Searches Is this a transactional keyword that would indicate that […]

Create a Clear Path to Conversion

Create a Clear Path to Conversion

As featured in the April 2023 issue of AutoSuccess Magazine   Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication A digital shopping experience absent of friction can lead your customers to what they are looking for. Often, it is that high-quality user experience that creates early trust and a solid leg for future positive interactions to stand on. These first impressions are paramount […]

Can AI Replace My SEO Provider?

Can AI Replace My SEO Provider?

Some of you may be considering replacing your SEO provider with artificial intelligence (AI), thinking, “This could save me so much money!” While that may be true for your marketing budget, trading in an experienced SEO provider for AI is not without serious risks––some of which may outweigh any savings. It goes without saying that AI does and will continue […]

How can I assess 3rd party traffic on my website?

How can I assess 3rd party traffic on my website?

So, you’re spending all kinds of money. You’ve got all kinds of marketing dollars going in all different directions, and you have all this referral traffic coming back to you website. How can you tell what it’s actually doing? I’ve got you covered. There’s a lot of different ways we can measure that 3rd party traffic and the way that […]

What questions should I ask my pay-per-click provider?

What questions should I ask my pay-per-click provider?

Accountability in pay-per-click is very important because the money that you’re spending only lasts for that moment in time. With a poorly configured account with poor targeting, incorrect ads, and a low-quality score, that money can vanish and you can get nothing for it. It’s very easy to have lots of fraud, waste, and abuse in pay-per-click and it’s often […]

Three Ways to Make Your Data More Actionable With AI

Three Ways to Make Your Data More Actionable With AI

As we’ve discussed over the last few months, artificial intelligence (AI) and search engine optimization (SEO) are in the early stages of a new relationship together. While AI has long been in the background of digital marketing, its recent advances have brought it to the forefront in a new way. We still have a lot to learn about what its […]